Sandy Hook school tragedy: How does this happen?

A message is seen on a candle outside the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A man killed his mother at their home and then opened fire Friday inside the Sandy Hook Elementary school, killing 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots reverberating through the building and screams echoing over the intercom. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Our nation has withstood wars, terrorist attacks, threats, natural disasters — each time the destruction of lives and sense of security leaving scars we can’t erase. But those are wars and attacks that come from outside, that threaten our faith in goodwill among men and erode the security our leaders attempt to build and the refuge our knowledge and preparation seek to provide.

Our greatest horrors come from within, from inside the circles of our lives, unleashed in a madman’s rage that methodically shoots dozens in a theater full of moviegoers or kills 20 children in a small-town Connecticut elementary school.

How does this happen?

The horrific tragedy that unfolded Friday in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., left 26 people dead, including 20 children and the lone 20-year-old gunman.

How much hatred causes a young man to arm himself with several guns and fire through a school, killing his mother who taught there and shooting at children as they flee and hide in terror?

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What type of inhumane insanity builds to an act this monstrous?

The rampage was the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead in 2007.

President Barack Obama, fighting back tears, called for “meaningful action” to prevent such shootings. But he didn’t say what that action could be, stuck as the rest of the nation in the “why?” long before we can reach some semblance of prevention.

“As a country, we have been through this too many times,” Obama said. “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

Indeed, we must as a nation begin a process of making assault weapons used in these attacks inaccessible to those who could commit such acts. We must be more mindful of the evil that can lurk around us.

Today, less than 10 days before Christmas, the only resolution offered by the president, officials in local schools throughout the nation, pastors, counselors and leaders was for all of us to grieve with the parents of Sandy Hook school and to hug our children a little tighter tonight.

The unthinkable has happened again.

And, again, all we can do is keep the families of the victims and the community of Newtown in our hearts and prayers.